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New Dodger Stadium parking policy will encourage fans to buy passes in advance.

Parking at Dodger Stadium will increase to $15 in 2014, but only if you purchase your parking pass at the stadium gate. (Associated Press photo)

A series of changes are in store for Dodger Stadium, each designed to improve traffic flow into the park on game days.

The most significant change will see a return to $15 fees for parking passes purchased at the stadium entrance. To pay $10, fans will need to buy their parking pass in advance and present their receipt — either printed or on a smartphone — when they approach the gate.

“There’s not much we can do about the traffic on the 110. There’s not much we can do about the traffic on Sunset (Blvd.), and those are our two main access roads,” team president Stan Kasten said. “The main bottleneck we have is transaction time at the gate.”

Lon Rosen, the Dodgers’ chief marketing officer, said that fans who pay at the gate typically spend 45 seconds or more completing the transaction. By presenting and scanning a prepaid parking pass, the transaction time is greatly reduced. Kasten and Rosen hope this will diminish the traffic backup that infuriates fans trying to enter the stadium in the hours leading up to the game.
“We’re encouraging fans to get your parking passes in advance,” Kasten said. “You can do this on your phone on the way to the ballpark, but get it in advance. If you do that, we can zip you right through.”

Kasten said that a September experiment offering free parking for fans who carpooled to the game won’t return. That experiment had no impact on traffic flow, Kasten said.

A few more changes:

• The parking lots will be re-striped.

• Added pedestrian walkways and bikepaths to encourage people to ride bicycles to the stadium.

• More signage on the streets to direct people to “underutilized gates”: The Golden State gate, the Academy gate, and the Scott Ave. gate — which will re-open after having been closed for years.

• Kasten said that taking public transportation, or driving to Union Station and taking a shuttle remains “the quickest, easiest, cheapest way to get to the ballpark.” The shuttle will have two stops at the park this year: One behind center field and another behind home plate.

The bill for stadium renovations between Phase 1 last year and Phase 2 this year, will be “a touch over $150 million,” Kasten said.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.

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